The Business Diversity Institute (BDI) is a Portland-based non-profit serving Oregon and Southwest Washington that provides training and education to minority, women-owned and emerging small businesses in the region.

For over twenty years, the organization has led meetings, networking opportunities, seminars and training oriented toward improving diversity in employment.

The goal of the BDI program is to provide education, training and resources for diversity practitioners that support the growth of Oregon’s DMWESB business community. Raising awareness of diversity and inclusion issues in business has improved the climate for firms and agencies large and small to bring the idea of diversity to the forefront in their hiring and contracting practices.

Lee Fleming, chair of BDI speaks about what the organization does with enthusiasm.

“BDI has been here for over 20 years but has really taken off since 2014,” said Fleming. “We took an idea that was originally Multnomah County’s and improved on it to be inclusive of all certifications available and not just in the county, but throughout the region. It needed to be larger than the county.”

The resulting Diversity Practitioners Summit became focused on broadening the scope and appeal of diversity training.

“We’ve brought in nationally recognized speakers and designed quarterly seminars that are not only instructive, but keep the subject in the forefront,” Fleming added. “It’s a very rich and robust challenge. There is an emphasis on fairness and equity. Something can be legal, but it may not be fair or equitable in practice. We examine the laws and push for reforms at the county and state legislature. We’ve been recognized for these efforts by national firms as an example. Asking how we can best impact legislation and change the dynamics of best practices is an evolution of sorts. That’s why we’re important. We’re the only group that does this.”

Another popular program from BDI is their Breakthrough Breakfast series.

Ron White, owner of Probity Builders and a business coach and mentor re-tooled that program to make it more interesting, more relevant and more effective at addressing the needs of small businesses. By working with partners and small firms, they found out what they wanted, what they needed and organized the programs around those concepts.

“That was taking the pulse of the community and that’s why it has been a success,” said Fleming.